The present invention relates to machines or apparatus for simultaneously removing and in situ severing of rails from a rail bed to produce a plurality of rail sections of predetermined lengths. It is often desirable, as railway routes are discontinued to recover the rails for later sale. Presently, it is common practice to pry the rails from the railway bed and thereafter transport the rails by truck or the like to a suitable site where they are cut into pieces of convenient lengths, such as one foot or so. As may be imagined, this entails additional time, transportation and handling as compared to a system wherein the rails may be pried and severed in situ to the appropriate length and shipped to the final destination directly from the railroad right-of-way.
Prior art devices which are pertinent are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,430,916 issued to Mason et al. Oct. 3, 1922 for Machine For Removing Rails and Extracting Spikes, U.S. Pat. No. 2,309,262 issued Jan. 26, 1943 to Thies for Apparatus For A Method Of Removing Abandoned Street Car Tracks and U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,618 issued Jan. 30, 1979 to Boyer for Railroad Lifting Device For Ballast Cleaning and Levelling Machines. These patents, while pertinent, do not show or suggest a machine or apparatus for simultaneously removing and in situ severing of rails from a rail bed.